Connecting the dots: we need to think systemically
THE WONDERFUL benefit of having a sociological imagination is that persons trained in the discipline think systemically. Some people do it naturally but others have to have it thrust upon them. Everything in a social system or society is connected to other things.
It is no different from when one studies biological ecosystems. Any activity in one part of the system naturally affects some other part. So, if you use pesticides to kill wasps and other flying arthropods; it can result in the demise of the bee industry. Indeed, medical research may demonstrate how the misuse of a popular male enhancing pill can lead to a proliferation of biting insects.
It is amazing how many intelligent Jamaicans are so stingy with their brain usage that they do not see beyond the immediate.
For example, last week as we debated paternity leave, it was shocking that some opponents of the granting of this ‘right’ to fathers are exactly the same set of people who complain that men are not finding time to participate in the lives of their children.
Similarly, when we understand that women in the prime childbearing age category are the members of the population with the highest unemployment rate, it is easier to comprehend why more women are available to do family duties. With young females being more unemployed than males in the same cohort, the connection needs very little grey matter.
We also seem to forget that women raise men. And women teach us to not do family things. The late great Professor (St) Barry Chevannes demonstrated via his research how women unwittingly reinforce gender stereotypes.
What might surprise many is that women raise men to not do the soft things like going to PTA meetings or doing the ‘mommy stuff’. Indeed, if one looks beyond the diatribe, narratives and stereotypes, one will see a simple division of labour based on sex. Many times, the men are there but at home or elsewhere, doing something beneficial to the family.
Anyway, how much intelligence does it take to comprehend that if a large number of Jamaican men are victims of paternity fraud, it must mean that they have offered themselves up for fatherhood. Note that this refers to men who were admitting paternity.
It might also be so blindingly simple that it deafens the eyes of the observer. However, how easy is it to confuse households with families?
Now, even without the benefit of the census or other surveys, we know that more women are going out to work. We also know that women are having fewer children. Moreover, it is also known that females are outpacing males, displacing them at tertiary institutions like The University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University of Technology (UTech) at a ratio of 7:3.
So, if women are delaying childbirth, reducing the number of children they have, spending more time in school and living by themselves or with housemates, it means that they are living in female-headed households.
They have no children and thus, they have no missing babyfathers, except in their fantasies and nightmares. With more professional, independent home-owning women waiting until they are ready before adding to the population, it stands to reason that the official statistics on household heads will also be skewed unless we fully understand them.
Thinking systemically also helps us to understand how things that we do impact others.
As I watch the unfurling of events at the aforementioned UTech, I am also reminded of an expression my mother taught me. Waxing deep in sociology without having spent a day in a class on my plantation, her words still echo: “goat must know the size of him behind hole before him swallow mango seed.”
PRIME ATTENTION TO MAIN FOOT SOLDIERS
If one wants a first-class educational institution, one must give prime attention to the main foot soldiers. As famous and news frequent as some heads of institution are, it might be an uncomfortable fact that no one applies to a university, because of the reputation of its principal, registrar, vice-chancellor or president.
If lecturers and researchers are not properly remunerated, respected and treated with transparency and obedience to rules, ordinances and contractual provisions, then all the grand posturing of its leaders comes to naught.
An owner of a bakery knows that people are interested in the bread, not him or her. Thus, his chief baker must be treated like he matters and not be cheated simply because the powerful has the ability to do so.
I am not sure why UTech is short of the money to pay its key elements. However, we do know that there is a simple formula when spending money for university purposes. First of all, we must do labour market forecasting and studies to determine the demand and feasibility of the offerings.
Expanding programmes because of the personal preferences, prestige or political visibility does not help to pay the hard-to-replace academics, unless the programmes, courses or departments are viable.
In this society, there are some professions which, though not very prestigious, are critical to national development.
We have a shortage of qualified early childhood educators and social workers. Add to that, mathematics teachers and yes, the tiny group of teachers who actually speaks fluent English and truly thinks systemically.
In this country, the problems of poor management of children’s affairs, parental torture, underpayment of educators and unfair labour practices all contribute to the low productivity and social violence.
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